Mobility, Safety and Sustainability across Kenilworth, Leamington and Warwick

K2L

K2L, abbreviated from Kenilworth to Leamington, is a campaign to persuade Warwickshire County Council to provide a high quality cycle route between Kenilworth and Leamington. It is an easy 5 mile commute and there are a considerable number of people doing it already. We believe this route is essential and should be integral to the cycle network.

Map of K2L route

A Feasibility Study by Warwickshire County Council Transport Design Services has just been completed (15 June 2013) and available for download (K2L Feasibility Study June 2013, 10 MB pdf). It has established that the outline scheme produced by Cycleways, as last revised in 2010, is technically feasible and deliverable. This follows the west side (right side) of the A452 from Kenilworth to The Chesford crossroads, then changes to the east side (left side) for the remainder of its route into Leamington. The Study has also endorsed our idea of dividing the route into sections of varying cost which could be implemented separately if funding for the whole scheme was not available at one time. The Study proposes 6 sections, as below, each costed generally to include construction, land acquisition, fees etc, plus a standard 40% contingency. The route would be a shared use facility and as such the off-road sections would usually be 3m wide, with occasional narrower pinch-points: pedestrian usage for most of the route is assessed as likely to be low.

SECTION 1: Kenilworth Jet Garage Roundabout to Thickthorn Roundabout

Start at the Farmer Ward Road/Birches Lane junction. Includes a new Toucan crossing near Bullimore Grove entrance (good news for bus users and pedestrians, as well as cyclists).

SECTION 2: Thickthorn (A46/A452) Roundabout

Major improvements to cycle facilities (e.g. traffic signals) can only be carried out in conjunction with other major developments here (e.g. Thickthorn housing), so deferred.

SECTION 3: Thickthorn Roundabout to Bericote Roundabout

Includes 43m steel truss bridge over the Avon (perhaps similar to the Greenway bridge at Crackley) and crossing the flood plain on an embankment or raised platform.

SECTION 4: Bericote Roundabout to Sandy Lane

An important 900m section of off-road cycleway avoiding the narrowest stretch of the A452.

SECTION 5: Sandy Lane to Blackdown Roundabout

SECTION 6: Blackdown Roundabout to Cloister Crofts junction

Includes upgrading the signalised crossing beyond Cloister Crofts to a Toucan (designed for both pedestrians and cyclists) crossing.